Avro Shackleton

what is it?

The Avro Shackleton is a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) which was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). It was developed by Avro from their Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a development of the famous wartime Lancaster bomber. The Shackleton was developed during the late 1940s as part of Britain's military response to the rapid expansion of the Soviet Navy, in particular its submarine force.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 36.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 482 km/htop speed
• range 3,611 kmwithout refuelling
• size 39 tmax take-off weight
• built 185made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 77 years ago, in 1949.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 36.6 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 7 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 3,611 km: 20× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1949-03-09

introduced

1951

retired

1991

status

retired

number built

185

role

maritime patrol aircraft

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Avro

engines

4× Rolls-Royce Griffon 57

crew

10

length

26.6 m

wingspan

36.6 m

height

5.3 m

max take-off weight

39 t

top speed

482 km/h

range

3,611 km

ceiling

6,157 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.